The huarache grande appetizer at Taqueria la Mexicana in South Beloit, Ill. The dish consists of a masa dough base covered in beans, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, sour cream and a choice of protein.
SOUTH BELOIT, Ill.—We enjoy an adventure, new places and little-known favorites. We don’t know much about South Beloit, Illinois, but there were rumors that Taqueria la Mexicana was a hidden gem, tucked in the back of a Mexican grocery store. It was so hidden, in fact, that even though we found the right strip mall, we accidentally entered La Blanquita, a Mexican bakery adjacent to the restaurant. We like these sorts of accidents, really! The enticing odors made it hard to leave, so we knew we would be stopping back at the bakery after dinner to pick up some sweet goodies to take home.
To get to the restaurant, you have to make your way through the grocery store, but there are booths back there with pleased regular customers. The tradeoff for the excellent food is the simplicity of the restaurant. Multicolored flags hang from the ceiling and yellows and oranges brighten the space and give it a festive vibe.
The menu is full of authentic dishes, including the regular entries you see on most menus and the unique. As soon as we sat down, our server delivered a basket of house-made corn tortilla chips to our booth. Right from the start, we found their chips to be the tastiest we have had. Added to that, we loved the green salsa from the squeeze bottle. The red salsa was also good, a bit hotter, though neither one was exceptionally spicy.
We wanted to order something to share in addition to our individual entrees, so we started with the antojitos (“little cravingsâ€), a variety of appetizer choices. We decided to share a huarache grande ($9.99). Huaraches consist of a masa dough base, delicately fried with a nice thickness, and covered in beans, cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped onion and tomato, and a generous drizzle of sour cream. We had ours with chicken. It was so tasty and fresh.
The huarache grande appetizer at Taqueria la Mexicana in South Beloit, Ill. The dish consists of a masa dough base covered in beans, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, sour cream and a choice of protein.
Chiles rellenos with Oaxaca cheese, refried beans and rice. It is served with warmed homemade tortillas.
Nikki Bolka/Special to ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ
I cannot pass up chiles rellenos ($14.99). Two huge chiles were filled with Oaxaca cheese and covered with an egg batter. Oaxaca cheese is similar to string cheese. It was almost too spongy rather than melty, but quite tasty. Poblano peppers can be pretty hot, but the spongy cheese helped tame it. It came with beans, which were a little bland but went well with the spicy pepper. The rice was soft and flavorful. Best of all were the warm, homemade tortillas to wrap the bites in.
Jennifer was rather hungry, and a plateful of nachos con carne ($11.99) sounded ideal. Her meat choices included steak, chicken, chorizo, roast pork or beef. She decided on the roast pork. Taking that first tortilla chip with all the yummy layers of refried beans, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro and the moist roast pork was more than pleasing. The flavors of each melded wonderfully together, but she said the slow-roasted pork stole the show.
Nikki ordered the arrachera platter ($14.99). The thin slices of skirt steak were tender, savory and well seasoned. They came with grilled peppers, onions and freshly sliced avocado, as well as tortillas and generous portions of the creamy beans and fluffy rice. It was a filling, delicious meal.
Nachos con carne from Taqueria la Mexicana in South Beloit, Ill.
Jennifer Spangler/Special to ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ
Helene chose an al pastor (roast pork) taco ($2.50) on a homemade tortilla. With only three ingredients—tender chopped bits of seasoned pork, lots of shredded cilantro and chopped onions, plus the squeeze of lime that she added—the taco was fresh and tasty.
She also ordered a vegetarian burrito ($8.99). Having just passed the vegetable aisle while working our way to the restaurant through the small grocery store, she saw most of the ingredients that would make it into her burrito. Chopped tomatoes and onions mixed with rice, refried beans and shredded lettuce were enveloped in a flour tortilla. Sour cream and avocado added a wonderful lushness to the flavors.
Leaving the restaurant, we headed back to La Blanquita bakery where we each tried something different. The bakery has been there for 25 years, and they have a wonderful assortment of treats. There were tres leches cakes, bolillos, donuts, cookies, cheesecakes and more.
Nikki went home with a fresh donut, which was too irresistible to save for the next day. Helene and Jennifer left with goodies to enjoy with their morning coffee: marranitos (gingerbread cookies) and some orejas ($1 each), puff pastry cookies sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
